US-20260124575-A1 - SOLAR-DRIVEN DEEP DEHUMIDIFICATION SYSTEM AND METHOD

US20260124575A1US 20260124575 A1US20260124575 A1US 20260124575A1US-20260124575-A1

Abstract

The present invention provides solar-driven deep dehumidification system and method utilizing spectrum splitting of sunlight. The system comprises: multiple air dehumidification modules; and a solar energy conversion module configured to covert solar energy into thermal energy and electrical energy for driving the multiple air dehumidification modules. The multiple air dehumidification modules comprise: a liquid desiccant dehumidification module configured to configured to dehumidify a flow of air using a liquid desiccant to supply a flow of dehumidified air; and a vacuum membrane dehumidification module configured to configured to further dehumidify the flow of dehumidified air from the liquid desiccant dehumidification module to supply a flow deep-dehumidified air. The proposed systems pave a way for clean and sustainable deep dehumidification.

Inventors

Xiaobo Zhang
Duu-Jong LEE

Assignees

CITY UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251023

Claims (20)

1 . A solar-driven deep dehumidification system, comprising: multiple air dehumidification modules; and a solar energy conversion module configured to covert solar energy into thermal energy and electrical energy for driving the multiple air dehumidification modules; wherein the multiple air dehumidification modules comprise: at least one liquid desiccant dehumidification module configured to configured to dehumidify a flow of air using a liquid desiccant to supply a flow of dehumidified air; and at least one vacuum membrane dehumidification module configured to configured to further dehumidify the flow of dehumidified air from the liquid desiccant dehumidification module to supply a flow deep-dehumidified air.
2 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 1 , wherein the solar energy conversion module comprises a concentrator, a spectrum filter, a photovoltaic (PV) panel, a battery and a solar thermal collector.
3 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 2 , wherein the concentrator is a parabolic trough, a parabolic dish, a linear fresnel reflector or a central tower receiver.
4 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 2 , wherein the solar thermal collector is a flat-plate collector or an evacuated tube collector.
5 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 2 , wherein the concentrator is configured to collect sunlight and concentrate the collected sunlight on to the spectrum filter; and the spectrum filter is configured to: split the collected sunlight into a short-wavelength band and a long-wavelength band; and project the short-wavelength band of sunlight on the PV panel and the long-wavelength band of sunlight on the solar thermal collector.
6 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 2 , wherein the PV panel is configured to convert the short-wavelength band of sunlight into electrical energy to charge the battery; and the battery is configured to store the electrical energy and supply the electrical energy to the vacuum membrane dehumidification module and/or liquid desiccant dehumidification module.
7 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 2 , wherein the solar thermal collector is configured to convert the long-wavelength band of sunlight into thermal energy for heating up a heat transfer medium which is used for transferring the thermal energy to the liquid desiccant dehumidification module.
8 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 7 , wherein the heat transfer medium is air, heat transfer oil or water.
9 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid desiccant dehumidification module comprises a dehumidifier configured to: receive a flow of humid air and a flow of cooled concentrated liquid desiccant; facilitate the flow of cooled concentrated liquid desiccant to dehumidify the flow of humid air to obtain a flow of dehumidified air; and discharge a flow of diluted liquid desiccant.
10 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 9 , wherein the liquid desiccant dehumidification module further comprises a regenerator configured to: receive a flow of heated diluted liquid desiccant and a flow of dry air; facilitate the flow of heated diluted liquid desiccant to interact with the flow of dry air to release water absorbed therein to regenerate a flow of concentrated liquid desiccant; and discharge a flow of humidified air.
11 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 10 , wherein the liquid desiccant dehumidification module further comprises: a first heat exchanger including: a first channel pneumatically and/or hydraulically coupled to the regenerator and a second channel pneumatically and/or hydraulically coupled to the solar energy conversion module; and being configured to supply the flow of heated diluted liquid desiccant to the regenerator by exchanging heat from the heat transfer medium to a flow of preheated diluted liquid desiccant; a second heat exchanger including a first channel pneumatically and/or hydraulically coupled to the dehumidifier and a second channel allowing a cooling medium to pass through; and being configured to supply the flow of cooled concentrated liquid desiccant to the dehumidifier by exchanging heat from a flow of precooled concentrated liquid desiccant to the cooling medium; and a third heat exchanger including: a first channel pneumatically and/or hydraulically coupled to the first heat exchanger and the dehumidifier; and a second channel pneumatically and/or hydraulically coupled to the regenerator and the second heat exchanger and being configured to: exchange heat from the flow of concentrated liquid desiccant to the flow of diluted liquid desiccant to obtain the flow of preheated diluted liquid desiccant and the flow of precooled concentrated liquid desiccant; and supply the flow of preheated diluted liquid desiccant and the flow of precooled concentrated liquid desiccant to the first and second heat exchangers respectively.
12 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 11 , wherein the liquid desiccant dehumidification module further comprises: a first solution pump configured to pump the flow of concentrated liquid desiccant from the regenerator into the second heat exchanger; and a second solution pump configured to pump the flow of diluted liquid desiccant from the dehumidifier to the second heat exchanger.
13 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 12 , wherein the liquid desiccant dehumidification module further comprises: a first fan configured to force the flow of dry air into the regenerator; a second fan configured to force a flow of cooling air through the second heat exchanger; and a third fan configured to force the flow of humid air into the dehumidifier.
14 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 1 , wherein the vacuum membrane dehumidification module comprises: a feeding chamber; one or more permeable cavities disposed within the feeding chamber; and a vacuum pumping module pneumatically coupled with the permeable cavities.
15 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 14 , wherein the feeding chamber is configured to receive an inlet flow of air which is dehumidified by the liquid desiccant dehumidification module; the vacuum pumping module is configured to create vacuum environment in the permeable cavities such that water vapor within the inlet flow of air permeate into the permeable cavities due to water vapor pressure difference and the inlet flow of air is further dehumidified to obtain an outlet flow of deep-dehumidified air; and the feeding chamber is then configured to deliver the outlet flow of deep-dehumidified air to a user.
16 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 14 , wherein the vacuum pumping modules include one or more vacuum pumps pneumatically connected in series.
17 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 14 , wherein each permeable cavity is made of hollow fiber membranes.
18 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 14 , wherein the one or more permeable cavities are pneumatically connected in series.
19 . The solar-driven deep dehumidification system according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid desiccant is a LiBr solution, a LiCl solution or a HCOOK solution.
20 . A solar-driven deep dehumidification method, comprising: converting solar energy into thermal energy and electrical energy by a solar energy conversion module comprising a concentrator, a spectrum filter, a photovoltaic panel, a rechargeable battery, and a solar thermal collector; supplying the thermal energy to a liquid desiccant dehumidification module comprising a dehumidifier, a regenerator, and heat exchangers; dehumidifying, in the dehumidifier, a flow of humid air with a flow of cooled concentrated liquid desiccant to produce a flow of dehumidified air and a flow of diluted liquid desiccant; regenerating, in the regenerator, the flow of diluted liquid desiccant into a flow of concentrated liquid desiccant using a flow of dry air; supplying the electrical energy to a vacuum membrane dehumidification module comprising a feeding chamber, one or more permeable cavities, and a vacuum pumping module; and further dehumidifying the flow of dehumidified air by feeding the flow of dehumidified air into the feeding chamber and creating a vacuum environment in the permeable cavities such that water vapor within the flow of dehumidified air permeates into the permeable cavities due to a water vapor pressure difference, thereby obtaining a flow of deep-dehumidified air for delivery to a user.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims priority from the United States Provisional Patent Application No. 63/717,845 filed on 7 November, 2024, and the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention generally relates to the field of sustainable energy and dehumidification technologies, and more specifically relates to clean and deep dehumidification system and method utilizing spectrum splitting of sunlight. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Ultra-low humidity environment is always required in production workshop. However, creating such an environment consumes a significant amount of energy. To meet this demand, hybrid energy sources, including electrical energy and renewable energy, are commonly employed concurrently to generate air with ultra-low humidity. The reliance on hybrid energy partly results from the low utilization efficiency of renewable energy sources, such as solar energy. For example, Patent JP6116096B2 discloses a solar-powered dehumidification system including a solar energy conversion system and a solid dehumidification system, wherein sunlight is projected on the photovoltaic panel and converted to the electrical energy and thermal energy, and the thermal energy is utilized to drive the solid dehumidification system. But the electricity is not further utilized to achieve deep dehumidification. Patent CN103041675A discloses a solar-driven dehumidification system mainly encompassing a photovoltaic panel and a membrane regenerator. The solar energy is converted into electrical energy by the photovoltaic panel, and the electricity is utilized to drive the film regenerator. With electric energy, cations move towards the negative electrode while anions move towards the positive electrode. The solution can be concentrated in the regeneration room, and the solution concentration is diluted in the diluting chamber. However, in these approaches, only the electrical energy is utilized, the thermal energy converted from the solar energy is not utilized. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One objective of the present invention is to provide a solar-powered deep dehumidification system and method with improved solar energy conversion and utilization efficiency. In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, the solar-driven deep dehumidification system comprises: multiple air dehumidification modules; and a solar energy conversion module configured to convert solar energy into thermal energy and electrical energy for driving the multiple air dehumidification modules; wherein the multiple air dehumidification modules comprise: at least one liquid desiccant dehumidification module configured to dehumidify a flow of air using a liquid desiccant to supply a flow of dehumidified air; and at least one vacuum membrane dehumidification module configured to configured to further dehumidify the flow of dehumidified air from the liquid desiccant dehumidification module to supply a flow deep-dehumidified air. Preferably, the solar energy conversion module comprises a concentrator, a spectrum filter, a photovoltaic (PV) panel, a battery and a solar thermal collector. Preferably, the concentrator is a parabolic trough, a parabolic dish, a linear fresnel reflector or a central tower receiver. Preferably, the solar thermal collector is a flat-plate collector or an evacuated tube collector. Preferably, the concentrator is configured to collect sunlight and concentrate the collected sunlight on to the spectrum filter; and the spectrum filter is configured to: split the collected sunlight into a short-wavelength band and a long-wavelength band; and project the short-wavelength band of sunlight on the PV panel and the long-wavelength band of sunlight on the solar thermal collector. Preferably, the PV panel is configured to convert the short-wavelength band of sunlight into electrical energy to charge the battery; and the battery is configured to store the electrical energy and supply the electrical energy to the vacuum membrane dehumidification module and/or liquid desiccant dehumidification module. Preferably, the solar thermal collector is configured to convert the long-wavelength band of sunlight into thermal energy for heating up a heat transfer medium which is used for transferring the thermal energy to the liquid desiccant dehumidification module. Preferably, the heat transfer medium is air, heat transfer oil or water. Preferably, the liquid desiccant dehumidification module comprises a dehumidifier configured to: receive a flow of humid air and a flow of cooled concentrated liquid desiccant; facilitate the flow of cooled concentrated liquid desiccant to dehumidify the flow of humid air to obtain a flow of dehumidified air; and discharge a flow of diluted liquid desiccant. Preferably, the liquid desiccant dehumidification module further comprises a regenerator configured to: receive a flow of heated diluted liquid de